


Ebony

by bigpinkbaguette



Category: Adventure Time
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Past Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-17 01:06:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28965822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bigpinkbaguette/pseuds/bigpinkbaguette
Summary: Marceline and Princess Bubblegum share a light conversation after a long night.
Relationships: Princess Bubblegum/Marceline
Comments: 2
Kudos: 63





	Ebony

**Author's Note:**

> Howdy! This is a sort of fluffy pre-Stakes, post-Varmints piece based on a tiny personal headcanon. This is meant to take place later that night, after the events told by season 7, episode 2, "Varmints".

For perhaps the millionth time that hour, Marceline considered waking Bonnibel up. 

_Promise to wake me up in fifteen minutes,_ Bonnie had requested. Marceline had promised, but there was no way of keeping track of time . S he was pretty sure it had bee n quite a bit longer than just a quarter of an hour , but every time she contemplated shaking her friend awake, she shook the thought. _A few more minutes wouldn’t kill anyone._

It got to the point where Marceline couldn’t decide between letting Bonnibel continue to sleep until the sun came up or waking her. Sure, she’d trusted her to wake her, which was much more trust than she’d put into Marceline since they’d started hanging out again after ignoring each other for decades, if not centuries. Marceline didn’t want to ruin that, no matter how trivial it seemed. But she knew that Bonnie needed some time to rest. Her time away from the Candy Kingdom might have been just the opportunity she needed to calm down. It had probably been a solid five hundred years since she’d taken time off, if even for a day. But such was the way in a world where adventure was waiting at every corner. Even Marceline’s friendly visit had turned into a chore. She looked at her sleeping friend from the corner of her eye. Surely giving her a few hours of sleep wasn’t the worst thing she had ever done to her. 

Marceline scoffed quietly at herself. Had it been four or five years ago that she was dethroned by the King of Ooo, she wouldn’t have even bothered to visit Bonnie. Of course, it’s not that she wouldn’t have thought about it. Word would have eventually gotten to her, and in her constant ebb and flow of her feelings for the princess, she would have certainly wished she could go see her while, somehow, at the same time, never wanting to see her again. Back then, though, her feelings we much more complicated than they were now. 

For now, it was fairly simple. The two sat on the front porch of Bonnie’s newly re-built cabin after what had felt like a long night of fighting pests that had raided Bonnibel’s pumpkin patch that night. In reality, they’d only been gone for perhaps two or three hours. In any case, Bonnie had grown tired, and had fallen asleep leaned up against Marceline’s shoulder. 

At first, Marceline had been slightly flustered, but had come to enjoy the feeling of Bonnie’s warmth next to her on the crisp November evening. A few minutes after Bonnie had fallen asleep, Marceline noticed that the temperature had dropped significantly since they’d originally set off. Now, she was practically shivering. 

Eventually, Marceline decided to shift her shoulder slightly. “Bonbon, it’s cold,” she muttered softly. 

Rather than sitting up, Bonnie shifted so that her head was no longer against Marceline’s shoulder but in the crook of her neck. Marceline felt her cheeks burn. 

“Bonnibel...” Marceline put her hand on Bonnie’s shoulder and shook her awake. 

She groaned and sat up and scooted back slightly so she was still lightly touching Marceline. “Wh-… Oh! I’m awake.” She rubbed her eyes and yawned. “What’d I miss?” 

“Nothin’ much, to be honest,” Marceline reached over to the collar on her letterman jacket and adjusted it. She casually ran her fingers through her hair, but was surprised when her fingers caught something. “Uh, oh.” 

“Hey!” Bonnie cried. Her hand shot up to her own hair, which was tied back in a ponytail. When her hand touched Marceline’s, she gasped. “Oh, Glob.” 

Bonnie’s hair had gotten stuck in Marceline’s. 

At first, neither of them knew how to react. Marceline held her head in the same position and let go of her hair. She let out a small snicker. 

Bonnie pulled her ponytail out in front of her and started picking at the long, black strands of hair entangled in it. “Shoot, I’m so sorry.” 

Marceline wasn’t able to respond to the apology, because by this time she was practically in hysterics. 

Bonnibel sighed and separated the part of her ponytail that had been caught. “Hold still!” 

She stopped laughing, and Bonnie was able to gently tug the bit of her apparently sticky hair that was entangled. She playfully pushed Marceline to the side. “Now it’s _your_ problem.” 

Marceline was able to get her giggling under control. She smiled. “Whatever, I was overdue for a haircut anyway.” 

“Do you want me to give you a hand?” Bonnie offered. “I mean... you _could_ just use a thick and oily substance like peanut butter. Oils are generally hydrophobic, as is gum. The properties of my hair are weird, though. Might not work. I should actually try that...” She shook her head. “I don’t know. Depends on what you want to do. I’d be willing to help if you wanted to cut it. Or, like... wanted to borrow some peanut butter, I guess. I might have some laying around. I don’t know if it works.” 

Marceline tried to process what she’d just said. She wrinkled her nose at the thought of putting peanut butter in her hair. Yuck. “Uh...” She dug around in her pockets and took out assorted items that she’d forgotten to take out of her jacket. “I’ll give you, like, three dollars if you cut it for me.” 

Bonnie snorted in amusement. 

“Three dollars and two cents,” Marceline corrected, pulling two smaller objects out of her pocket. “Or I’ll ask Peps. But I told Peps he could go to bed.” 

She tilted her head. “Why’s that?” 

Marcy shrugged. “Seemed tired,” she lied. In reality, she was terrified of the little butler. Glob knows, he would mistake her for a varmint if she moved. Peppermint Butler with a gun? That was something she didn’t want to deal with, even if he couldn’t technically kill her. Well, he probably could, but not with a gun. When she’d told him to go to bed, she practically had to bribe him. In hindsight, she probably wouldn’t be comfortable with him cutting her hair unless she was paying him more than three dollars and two cents. 

“Fair enough.” 

She nodded. “Hm... Yeah.” 

The girls sat in awkward silence, just as they had before they fought the varmints. 

Marceline cleared her throat and tugged at the collar of her jacket. “Whew, is it, uh... is it hot out here?” 

Bonnie squinted. “Marcy, it’s less than forty degrees and it’s November. And you’re wearing shorts. It is, by no means, hot out here.” 

She cringed. In her attempt to ward away tension, she had accidentally created more. She mentally scolded herself 

They sat there for a few more minutes as Marceline toyed with her hair. 

“I’ll, uh... do you want to head inside?” Bonnie asked, standing up. “I would offer to do it out here, but it’s a bit too cold.” 

“Of course!” Marceline blurted, perhaps a bit too quickly. She bolted up and almost tripped. Bonnie grabbed her arm to stop her from falling down the steps. 

“Be careful there, vampire,” Bonnie teased. 

Marceline flushed. “I’m a thousand years old and I can fly. I could have caught myself,” she snapped bitterly, yanking her arm away from Bonnibel. 

A look of hurt spread across her face. Marceline attempted to explain herself. Even if some of their issues had been resolved that night, Marcy had kept her emotional walls high, perhaps higher than ever. “No, Bonnie, I- I didn’t mean that. I can take care of myself, but...” She finally sighed and decided to settle for “Thank you.” 

Bonnie withdrew her hand and rubbed it nervously with her other before turning slightly and opening the door to the cabin. 

Marceline stood and stared as she kept it open, looking at her expectantly. It took her a second to realize that Bonnie was holding the door open for her. “Oh! Right,” Marceline stepped forward and into the cabin. 

It was a friendly little cabin, and though it was set up quite a bit differently, it held the same homey atmosphere as Marceline’s little cavern house. 

She whistled as she looked around. “Nice place you got here.” 

“Thanks, I rebuilt it myself.” Bonnie wore a tiny smirk. 

The cabin around them was dull, and as they stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, waiting for the other to say or do something, their colors clashed against each other’s complexion and their surroundings. The atmosphere was tense, despite the warm, friendly environment the girls found themselves in. 

Marceline put her hands in her pockets and drifted a foot or so above the floor. She cleared her throat. “So, uh... where’re we gonna do this?” 

“Oh, right!” Bonnie glanced around. “Just sit in front of that chair over there, I guess. I’ll go get my stuff. I’m sure I’ve got scissors that’ll work _somewhere_.” She pointed at a dark recliner that sat just parallel to the door. 

“Okie-dokie,” Marceline kicked out her feet and slowly drifted to the general area Bonnie had gestured to. She sat a few inches in front of the chair, giving her enough to lean back coolly with her arms behind her head as Bonnibel dashed upstairs to retrieve whatever items she deemed appropriate for giving a vampire a haircut. 

When she returned, Marceline was surprised to see that she’d simply been holding onto a brush, a comb, and a small pair of scissors. She had also changed into a cute, white sweater with a yellow, red, and blue stripe. Why Bonnie would own a comb was beyond Marceline’s logic. 

“How does your hair even work?” she found herself asking, leaning forward as Bonnie sat in the chair. 

Bonnibel shrugged. “It kind of depends, really. It’s hard to explain. Sometimes it’s sticky, sometimes it’s like one single part, and sometimes it’s wispy and blows in the wind.” 

Marceline snorted. “I don’t know if I should be trusting someone who doesn’t know how her own hair works to cut mine,” she joked. 

As she set the objects down, Bonnie rolled her eyes and grinned. “Hey, you were the one that asked _me._ I’m a _scientist,_ Marceline. I could turn you into a blonde. Of course I know how cutting someone’s hair works.” 

Marceline whipped around. “How the he-” 

“It’s not that complicated of a procedure, Marcy,” she explained. 

“I’m a thousand years old, and I’ve never heard of someone go from having completely black hair to blonde. The closest thing I’ve seen to that is when Simon...” Marceline trailed off. “...Yeah.” 

She felt Bonnie’s hand touch her shoulder softly, but instead of offering words of comfort, Bonnie simply said “That’s because most all of the humans died off when you were tiny. Now, sit back so I can start taking care of your little... accident.” 

Marceline scoffed sarcastically and sat back. “Hey, it was _your_ fault.” 

Bonnie stroked Marceline’s hair lightly. “Shush, now, Marcy. Let’s not argue with the scientist.” 

“You say scientist, I say problematic nerd.” 

“Tomayto, tomahto,” Bonnie shrugged, taking the brush and gently running it through her friend’s hair. “Either way, I’m always right.” 

Marceline elbowed her sharply yet playfully. “I know hairdressers are known to be inappropriately annoying when they’re cutting someone’s hair, but you’re rather stuck-up.” 

“I suppose you’d like to speak to my manager?” 

“Pfft.” 

The brush tugged at a particularly large knot Marceline’s hair, and she tensed and took in a sharp breath. 

“Glob, you’re like an abused puppy,” Bonnie muttered, only half-teasingly. “You okay there?” 

Marceline began to nod but felt the brush still in her hair. “Yeah, yeah I am. Okay, I mean. Not abused- you know what I mean.” 

Bonnie nodded and continued running her hand and the brush through Marcy’s hair, more gently this time. Each time Bonnie touched her, Marceline would tense. They were silent for a few more seconds before Bonnie decided to ask, seriously this time, “Are you... are you afraid I’m going to hurt you again?” 

Despite the context of the question, Marceline couldn’t help but think about the question a bit more deeply than she would have had the inquiry come from anyone else. She hesitated and contemplated this before answering. One of the only reasons Marceline had built her walls so high, one of the reasons she had prevented herself from letting anyone get too close to her, was because she was afraid of being hurt. Being hurt the way Marceline’s mother had hurt her daughter nearly a thousand years ago when she convinced the young child to move on without her, never to see her again. The way Simon had hurt her every time he put on that crown that baby Marceline dreaded so dearly. She remembered the way she had felt so many years ago when Bonnibel, her princess, the one person she would be able to love forever for exactly who she was, finally ended their relationship. 

Everyone had left her. She was the same monster she’d been all her life. Once that many people leave you, you can’t help but grow to believe that it’s your fault. 

Ever since a few years ago, when they were forced to work together with their friends Finn, Jake, and BMO to retrieve items that a Door Lord had taken from them, it was safe to say that their relationship was positive- or rather, not negative. They had started hanging out more in the past year or so, but there was always that looming thought of their past together, one that neither of them would dare to mention, not to their friends nor to each other. Was she afraid of growing too close to Bonnie? Was she afraid that she would hurt her again, and they would end up exactly where they were? 

“Here, I’ll try to be gentler,” Bonnie’s voice called her back to reality. 

Marceline felt herself relax. “Oh, uh... sorry. I’m just a bit tired.” 

Bonnibel nodded and continued moving the hairbrush in long strokes, significantly slower than before. “That’s understandable. Heck, I’d be surprised if you weren’t. That was certainly something, chasing the varmints out, huh?” 

She nodded. “Sure was.” 

“So, how do you want me to cut it?” Bonnie set the brush down next to her and picked up the comb and the scissors. 

“Doesn’t matter. Just gotta get that junk out of my hair. And try to make it look somewhat okay.” 

Bonnie immediately began snipping away a few inches above the pink glob that had gotten stuck in her friend’s hair. “That’s not like you, Marce. You’re normally super on-point with the way you look.” 

“Eh,” Marceline just shrugged. “You’re alive for a few centuries and you realize that there’s a lot more to you than the way you look, even if it’s important to look awesome every now and again.” 

“Your jacket is cute,” Bonnie noted, using the comb to form a somewhat straight line as she cut. 

“Thank you.” 

She laughed. “Glob, I still can’t believe my hair got stuck in yours.” 

“’M sorry,” Marceline apologized. 

“Don’t be.” 

They once more sat in silence, with the exception of the occasional snipping sound that the scissors made. Marceline glanced at the floor out of the corner of her eye and winced as she saw the long, black clumps of discarded hair that she’d neglected to cut for so long hit the floor. “Remember what I used to look like? Like, when we first met?” 

Bonnie squinted, trying to remember. “Hm... yeah. You had that side-cut thing going on. Please don’t change your mind and say you want that, because I’ve already cut most of it.” 

Marceline shook her head. “Nah, I was just seeing if you remembered.” She sighed. “Glob, I used to be _hot_.” 

She snorted. “Yeah. Now you’re just kinda...” 

“Kinda what?” Marceline gasped in mock offence. “Did I, like... am I not hot anymore or something?” 

“No, no. Now you’re... huggable. Soft, but in a good way, you know?” 

“Huggable.” 

Bonnie winced. “Is that offensive?” 

“Of course not. It was just...” Marceline smiled. “Unexpected. Wonder what changed.” 

“Maybe it’s because you started hanging out with Finn and BMO?” she suggested. “I know you were never really good with kids. Or young kids, at least. When you met Finn, he was, what, twelve? As for BMO... Glob knows how long BMO’s been around, but they’re so sweet and innocent.” 

Marceline smiled fondly upon the thought of BMO. The little robot was so friendly, and she got along with them very well. When they had first met, it had been when Marceline messed around with Finn and Jake for the first time. When she kicked them out of the tree fort, BMO had stayed there. She winced at the memory; she’d acted like such a jerk back then. She’d probably taken the joke too far. But it was true- she _had_ grown to act significantly less like a jerky teenager. “I don’t know. Probably.” 

“I think it’s kind of nice,” Marceline heard the scissors snip very closely to her ear and flinched. “Sorry,” Bonnie muttered, brushing her friend’s shoulder lightly with her hand. “I mean... hanging out with those three. It’s healthy for you. You seem a lot happier than when I knew you. Like... before we- you stopped hanging around.” 

“Thanks, Peebs.” Marcy laughed bitterly. “Sucks that I’m still this demon-vampire monstrosity, huh?” 

Bonnibel stood up and rotated, kneeling to sit just in front of Marceline She brushed the part of her hair that she’d left a bit longer out of her eyes and looked straight into them. “Don’t say that about yourself. But... hypothetically, if re was something you wanted to change about yourself, I would do just about everything in my power to help.” 

Marceline froze. “Could you?” 

“Well... I wouldn’t be able to remove the demon from you. It’s part of your biological makeup. But the vampire... it’s probably like an illness. My guess is the infected cells impact the way your body works. If it’s anything like an infection, we could probably kill it off. Or at least... extract it,” Bonnibel explained. Then, she shook her head. “But I won’t do it until you’ve had some time to think.” She began using the comb and scissors to cut the hair she’d held out of Marceline’s eyes. It was already parted the way Marceline liked it, so it wasn’t too hard. 

Admittedly, Marceline found it incredibly uncomfortable with Bonnie’s face so close to hers, but at the same time, she didn’t mind. It was awkward, to say the least. “That’s understandable.” 

“You’re my friend.” Bonnie smiled. “I just want what’s best for you.” 

Marceline flinched at the final snip of scissors. Bonnie set them down and used her fingers to gently brush the hair in front of her eyes to the side, tucking it behind her ear. Despite being completely done, Bonnie mumbled, “I’m not going to hurt you. I promise.” 

She leaned forward and lightly touched her lips to Marceline’s cheek- a gesture that she routinely shared with her closer friends in certain circumstances but had neglected to do with Marcy herself for... obvious reasons. 

Marceline flushed slightly and pulled Bonnie into a hug. “I believe you,” she whispered. 

And there was a certain sense of truth to that. 


End file.
